You're Still My Brother
by Tato Potato
Summary: It was a few weeks after the brother's had said their goodbyes to Matilda and she was taken by Social Services. Cal still hadn't told Ethan that he was adopted and that they might not be brothers. When something happens things are all put back into perspective for Cal, will he realise the true meaning of brotherly love or will he desert his brother when he needs him the most?
1. Chapter 1

It was a few weeks after the brother's had said their goodbyes to Matilda and she was taken by Social Services. Cal still hadn't told Ethan that he was adopted and that they might not be brothers.

Cal was walking down the corridor, his brother coming towards him. He could hear his phone ringing. 'Cal we need to talk' Ethan said. Cal put his hand up to stop him.

'It's Taylor' Cal breathed as he answered the phone. 'What do you want' he muttered as he answered the call.

'I should be the one who is angry, where is my daughter I want her back' Taylor shouted.

'She's gone, you lying cow, she's not even mine' he shrieked.

'Just come to the park I want to speak to you' Taylor spoke, her voice becoming sweeter, softer and less harsh.

'If I come will you leave me alone for good?' Cal asked. Taylor agreed before telling him where to go. Ethan looked puzzled.

'She wants to meet me at the park, she wants to apologize before she leaves us alone for good' Cal told his brother.

'Do you want me to come?' Ethan asked. Cal hesitated before nodding his head.

'Yes' Cal whispered. Ethan grabbed his things and drove them to the park. The brothers wandered through the park until they came to the toilets where they had met Taylor the last time.

Cal turned to Ethan. 'You wait out here, I won't be long' he whispered before storming into the toilets. It was eerily quiet until Ethan heard a yell coming from inside. He opened the door.

'Caleb' he spoke his voice shaking nervously as he walked further into the room. A loud bang echoed around the park followed by a heart wrenching scream.


	2. Chapter 2

'Nibbles!' Cal screamed as he dashed forward kneeling beside his brother. Blood seeping from his abdomen. 'It's alright mate, I'm here' Cal whispered as he plunged his hands into his brother's torso.

'C-Cal, I'm scared' he gasped.

'I know, just keep those eyes open for me, don't go to sleep' Cal whispered.

Taylor was stood across the room, gun still in hand. 'I'm so sorry, I-I never meant to' she stammered.

'No, save it Taylor' Cal shouted. She flinched at the harsh tone in his voice.

He jumped to his feet. He took Ethan's hands and placed them over the wound. 'Just apply some pressure for me, I'm going too fetch my bag, I will be back in two minutes, don't close your eyes' Cal told him. He ran to the car, grabbing his bag and slung it over his shoulder before sprinting to his brother's side.

'C-cold' Ethan shivered. Cal peeled his jacket off and laid it over his brother's slender frame.

'I'm going to take a quick look, I need to see if any blood vessels have been compromised, you know the drill' Cal explained to his brother. He grabbed a stack of gauze from his bag and put them on Ethan's chest, whilst he prised his brother's hands off of the wound in his stomach. 'Oh god, its arterial. I need to tie this off quickly' he told his brother.

'Can I help?' Taylor asked.

'No, I'm calling the police' Cal told her. He tore the phone from his pocket. 'Hello, yes, I need an ambulance and police, my brother has been shot by a lunatic. The park on the east side of Holby next to the Farmead estate' he spoke, his voice shaking as he tried to apply more pressure to his brother's wound. He noticed Ethan's eyes fluttering closed. 'No Nibbles, no' he groaned as he forced his hands harder into Ethan's stomach.

Ethan yelled in pain.

'Sorry mate, just stay awake for me please, help is on the way. Now I need to tie off this artery, I'm not sure how though because I don't have anything to stop the pain other than local anaesthetic' Cal thought allowed.

'Do it with local' Ethan breathed.

'No way, I don't want to hurt you' Cal protested.

'Just do it, I'll be fine' Ethan muttered sternly.

Cal drew up a syringe of anaesthetic and some morphine. 'Nibbles, I'm going to inject some morphine and anaesthetic, I want you to stay calm and close your eyes' he whispered to his brother.

Ethan squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering as the needle pierced the blood stained skin of his abdomen. Cal hurriedly injected the medicine into his brother's stomach before pressing more gauze into the wound. He knew now that he had to hurry as he saw the large pool of blood surrounding his brother. The reality hit that he could lose his brother, something he was not willing to do.


	3. Chapter 3

Cal donned a pair of gloves, before pushing his fingers into the wound on his brother's stomach. Ethan let out a heartbreaking yell of agony. Tears rolled down Cal's cheeks. 'I'm sorry buddy, I'm really sorry' Cal whispered as he tried to find the broken artery.

Taylor rushed over, taking Ethan's hand. 'Stay calm, it's all going to be fine' she soothed as Ethan writhed in agony.

'Get off of him, you tried to kill him' Cal shouted pushing her away. Ethan moaned in pain as Cal found the artery, he began stitching it up carefully. Cal took his hands from Ethan's abdomen and stitched the wound shut. He pressed a clean gauze pad over it and taped it into place.

'T-thanks' Ethan whimpered. He tried to sit upright but Cal pinned him down. 'You'll destroy my handiwork if you move now' Cal told him with a grin. 'Let me roll you over and see if there is an exit wound, I couldn't find the bullet' Cal said.

He log rolled his brother carefully. There was a tiny wound in his lower back, a small golden shape sticking out of it. It was far too close to his spine for him to risk moving it now. 'I've found it, it's stuck between the vertebrae. I'll leave that for our surgeons to deal with' Cal whispered, holding Ethan's hand tightly as he rolled him back into placed. Ethan had tears running down his cheeks.

'Don't leave me' he gasped.

'Why would I do that?' Cal asked with a smile wiping away his brother's tears.

'I'm sorry about everything' Ethan muttered. Cal was about to reply when he heard a voice outside.

'Paramedics!' Iain shouted.

'In here mate!' Cal shouted. The police followed, arresting Taylor once Cal told them what had happened. Iain crouched beside the young doctor. 'Okay so Ethan was shot, there was a compromised artery which I managed to tie off successfully using a local anaesthetic, the bullet is lodged in his back between the vertebrae, and he has lost a lot of blood but other than that everything is fine' Cal explained as the put him on a stretcher.

Ethan grabbed Cal's hand tightly, his eyes filling with tears. 'You are the best brother in the world' he whispered as he faded into unconsciousness.

Cal looked at the ground, he was no where near this kind of brother Ethan deserved, he should have told him the truth already, he shouldn't have lied, they weren't brothers, in fact they weren't even close.

Cal buried his head into his hands as the ambulance sped towards the ED. Once they arrived they began unloading Ethan. Cal stepped out of the ambulance with a tear stained face. Max walked beside him throwing his arm supportively around his shoulder as they took the injured registrar into resus. Connie began treating Ethan, after ordering Cal to step back.

'Okay, he has a bullet penetrating his spine, he needs to go to surgery, other than that I would say that Doctor Knight did a brilliant job in patching him up. Let's get him upstairs' Connie declared.

Cal grabbed Ethan's hand as he began to come round. 'I'm here mate, we're just taking you upstairs to fix your back, listen I'll be right with you when you wake up so don't be scared. I promise everything is going to be okay' Cal soothed.

'Thank you' Ethan whispered giving his hand a weak squeeze.

'What are brother's for?' Cal asked.

Ethan was rushed straight into a prep room so they could get him ready for his operation. He started to panic so Cal was asked to accompany him. 'Ethan, calm down mate, you'll be fine, I'm not going to let anything happen' Cal whispered as his brother was injected with the anaesthetic. His eyes flickered shut and he finally succumbed to the drug.

Cal walked out of the room and stormed into the staffroom of the ED. He began punching the wall as hard as he could. He was furious with himself for letting this happen. He had let Ethan believe everything was going to be alright when it clearly wasn't, upstairs he was in surgery battling to save his life, he wasn't even related to him. Cal continued punching the wall, splitting his knuckles and leaving a bloody smear on the wall as his hand continuously struck it. Eventually he sank onto his knees, exhausted cradling his injured hand in his lap, he buried his head into his knees, sobbing.


	4. Chapter 4

The door creaked open, Rita walked in and sat beside him. 'Let's dress your hand and then go and sit with him, he needs you now more than ever, and you have to be there for him' she told him.

'I can't be' Cal sobbed.

'Yes you can' Rita told him. 'No matter what, he is your brother, you need to look after him, ever since you were kids you have been there for him, and he has been there for you, you need to help each other, that's what brothers do' She added.

Cal wiped his eyes, wincing in pain as his salty tears stung the cuts on his hand. Rita took his good hand and hauled him to his feet. She grabbed the first aid kit and began carefully dressing his hand. 'Now go to him, he'll be out of theatre in a few minutes, be there when he wakes up and tell him how much you love him, he needs to know' she whispered taping the bandage in place.

Cal was sat waiting for Ethan as he was wheeled out of surgery. 'It was a success, only time will tell whether there has been any spinal damage but the bullet has bene removed' the surgeons explained. The monitors connected to Ethan seemed to slow slightly, Ethan subconsciously calmed by the presence of his brother.

Cal pulled up a chair sitting beside his brother. Silence fell on the room apart from the steady beeping of the monitors and the gentle rise and fall of Ethan's chest as he breathed peacefully. Cal buried his head into the sheets. 'I'm so sorry, I should have told you. All of this time we have been living our lives as a lie. I'm sorry I shouldn't have been so stupid, this is all my fault. Although we aren't biologically related we are still brothers, because brothers pick each other up when they fall, they are there for one another, they care, and they do what ever they can to make the other one happy, we have been doing that our whole lives, although we know the truth now, we can't let that stop us being brother's. You will always be my baby brother, in my heart, I love you Nibbles, and when you are better we can work this out together' Cal whispered holding Ethan's hand. Ethan's eyes fluttered open.

'I know' he gasped.

'What? What's wrong Ethan?' Cal asked.

'Mum told me before she died, I should have told you, I'm sorry' Ethan wheezed.

Cal began to cry, tears of relief. He thought Ethan would be angry and hate him. 'I'm sorry' he whispered.

'Don't be, you are still my brother' Ethan whispered.

'What?' Cal asked flummoxed.

'We were both adopted. Mum couldn't have kids' Ethan whispered hoarsely.

'Why didn't she tell us?' Cal asked.

'She didn't want to upset us, she wanted us to know we belonged somewhere' Ethan whispered his eyes fluttering shut.

'It's alright, you just sleep, you need to rest' Cal whispered.


	5. Chapter 5

Despite the sudden revelation that Ethan had made, things were still not right between the brothers especially when Ethan awoke the next day.

He fidgeted restlessly in the bed, Cal was fast asleep beside him. Cal felt Ethan's hand slipping from his grip and woke with a start. 'Hey little bro, what's wrong?' He asked.

'Hurts' Ethan groaned. Cal fetched him some pain relief and injected it.

'Better?' He asked.

'A bit' Ethan whimpered.

'What's wrong?' Cal asked worriedly.

'It's just that, I can't feel my legs, I think it might be the morphine' Ethan told him.

Cal picked up Ethan's notes and flicked through them. He read the units of morphine that his brother had been administered and it was minimal, not enough to cause a loss of sensation. Cal walked out into the corridor, bumping into Ethan's doctor. 'Ah, I was just coming to see how Mr Hardy is doing,' the doctor exclaimed.

'He can't feel his legs' Cal explained.

The doctor went in. He began testing Ethan's reflexes in his legs and took him for a few tests. Ethan was beginning to feel scared. Cal held his hand as his bottom lip started to tremble, he looked like he was about to burst into tears. 'It's alright I'm here, no matter what happens, I'm staying here with you' Cal whispered.

'Okay, it looks like the bullet did some damage to the spine after all. Unfortunately due to the damage cause you will have no sensation in your lower body, I'm afraid to say that you have been paralysed from the waist down' the doctor explained.

Ethan was in shock. He had worked long and hard to get to where he was, working in one of the top ED's in the country and that had all been snatched away. He pulled the sheets over himself and curled up into a ball, tears sneaking their way down his cheeks as he cried silently.

Cal didn't know what to say. He couldn't imagine how Ethan must be feeling. He did the only he could, he sat there, waiting for when Ethan needed him. He felt like running away but surprised himself when he sat back down and put his arm around his brother. 'We'll get through this I promise' he whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, so I was going to end the story there because I was running out of ideas on what could happen until I was searching through my iPad for a chapter of my other story and found this... I had written it on the bus home from school last week but forgot about it anyway, I'm not sure what else can happen so if you guys have any ideas please tell me, I could use some help with this story! Anyway enjoy! :)**

The next morning Cal woke up to find Ethan slumped on the floor in a heap. He had needed to go to the toilet but didn't want to wake his brother so he tried to do it himself. Cal jumped out of his chair as he realised how long his brother had been there. Ethan had grabbed a pillow and blanket as he fell and ended up curling up on the floor fast asleep. 'Ethan' Cal whispered gently shaking his brother to wake him.

Ethan groaned rolling over. His back aching as he tried to sit up. 'Ouch' Ethan cried.

'It's what you get for sleeping on the floor' Cal smirked as he scooped his brother into his arms and laid him in the bed.

Cal put his brother onto the bed as the door opened. 'Good morning Doctor Hardy, how are you feeling?' Connie asked as she walked in.

'I'm fine' Ethan whispered.

'Well you'll be able to go home' Connie told him. The door opened again and Max walked in pushing a wheelchair.

'I ordered this for you' Cal smiled. 'I thought you might like it, We could get some stickers for it and make it a bit more comfortable' Cal told him. Ethan was still really grumpy and Cal wanted to surprise him. It was a dark blue wheelchair with a couple of soft colourful cushions, sat on the seat was a little envelope containing a card which had been signed by all of his friends and colleagues. 'Would you like me to, um...' Cal stammered.

Ethan realised how much effort Cal had put into this, how much he cared. Cal was always really confident with his decisions and he never hesitated. Ethan felt a grin spreading across his face. He threw his arms around his brother. 'I love it, thanks Cal! Really its amazing' Ethan cried pulling him into a hug.

Cal lifted him out of the bed and placed him carefully into the chair. Ethan fidgeted to make himself comfortable before gesturing to Cal that he was ready. 'Hang on mate, we need to get you out of your pyjamas and check you stitches' Cal told him. Ethan grinned.

Connie left them to it, she handed Cal a bag which Lofty had grabbed from their flat. Cal handed a pile of clothes to Ethan and followed him into the bathroom much to Ethan's annoyance. 'I have to help you, what if you fall over again, you can't just sleep on the floor' Cal told him with a smile. Once both of the pair were dressed Cal put Ethan back on the bed. He laid him down and began peeling the dressing from his stomach. He gently examined the tiny row of dark blue stitches on his brother's stomach. Ethan winced as Cal accidentally pulled on the stitches. 'Sorry mate, all looks good, I'll roll you over and check your back'

Cal rolled Ethan onto his side, peeling the dressing from Ethan's lower back. Ethan whimpered as Cal wiped some antiseptic cream across his back. 'Alright then Nibbles, all sorted, lets get home' Cal declared as he pressed the gauze into his back. He lifted Ethan back into his chair and wheeled him outside.


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay so originally I was going to leave this story but then I received a message from sweeet-as-honey suggesting some incredible ideas which I thought were so good that I changed my mind and will be continuing this story, this chapter is just the start so stay tuned and I will try to update again soon! I hope you enjoy and as always please review!**

Cal took his brother home and once they pulled up, got their things from the car and Ethan was safely sat in his wheelchair, they went inside. Cal had worked hard since the accident to have the house renovated so it was more wheelchair friendly, although there were still some modifications that needed to be done. Ethan wheeled himself inside, all of the doorways had been widened so he could easily go from room to room. Cal had bought a smaller fridge, so Ethan could still reach the top shelf so he could put the milk away. It was touching for Ethan to see how much effort his brother had put into this.

Then a sudden realisation hit, how would he get up the stairs to bed. 'It's alright, a guy is coming next week to fit a wheelchair lift but for now, I am happy to carry you up to bed and carry you down again in the morning' Cal said as if reading his mind.

'Thanks Cal, honestly this means a lot' Ethan whispered.

'That's not everything' Cal stated taking the handles of the wheelchair. 'Come with me' he instructed pushing him into the large living room. At first it looked just the same as it had last time Ethan had been in it but then he noticed something, it was only small, but the way it was glistening in the light caught his attention. 'It's for you' Cal told him lifting it up and giving it to him.

Ethan turned the shiny blue, wrapped parcel over in his hands. He carefully peeled the wrapping paper off to reveal a new iPad. 'This one also has an app in case something happens, like you fall out of your chair for instance and need help, it will connect directly to my phone so I can come home and help you if I am not here. It also has a handy little stand that I can attach to the wheelchair so you have it where ever you go' Cal told him.

Ethan smiled. His brother had really put a lot of thought into this. He switched on the brand new iPad and took a picture of himself with his brother. 'There, I have a new screensaver' he smiled, clipping the tablet to the stand on his wheelchair.

'There is one more thing, I got a card and everyone signed it' Cal whispered handing the envelope to Ethan. Inside the card were several gift cards he could use to buy music and apps for his new device.

'Thanks so much Cal, I mean it, this is amazing' Ethan exclaimed hugging his brother.

'It's not a problem, It was my fault the accident happened so it's only right that I try and repay you' Cal admitted.

'It was not your fault. It was Taylor's I would never blame you for that, if anything you saved my life' Ethan told him.

'How about we get you upstairs and in the bath, before you stink out the flat. I spent hours cleaning this place' Cal grinned leaning down to lift his brother.

'Just be gentle. My stomach and back still feel sore' Ethan muttered as Cal hauled him out of the chair and charged up the stairs.


End file.
